As the lights beamed down on the stage at Demopolis High School, it was difficult to tell which glistened more- the pearly whites of the Miss DHS contestants or their glamorous dresses.

Monday night, 30 young ladies vied for the title as more than 300 spectators gathered at the DHS Anchor Club’s fundraising event.

“We had to turn people away,” DHS principal Dr. Isaac Espy said. “It was a great turnout and I am glad they decided to do it.”

This year’s pageant was the first in years for the school, since the club took it off its to do list in 2002.

“The Anchor Club came to me and Mr. Barlow (DHS vice principal) and requested to have the program,” Espy said. “We gave them permission and it was up to them to do it.”

“We hadn’t done it for about three years,” current Anchor Club president Skylar Sawyer said. “And this year, we wanted to do something to bring the community together with the school. We didn’t just want the families here, but we wanted outstanding community figures to come out as well.”

Espy said DHS has a number of “poised” girls at the school who deserve the chance to participate in such an event.

“Participation numbers were high,” he said, “and there are great opportunities for scholarships with pageants.”

However, Sawyer said, this year’s winner will only get the title of Miss DHS.

“We want to offer more in the future,” she said.

But the title was enough incentive for 30 girls, ranging from freshmen to seniors, to participate in the event.

“We didn’t have a talent portion because some girls are intimidated by having to perform,” Sawyer said, “and we didn’t want to discriminate against anyone. We wanted the biggest turnout we could possibly get.”

After showing off their evening gowns, the group was narrowed to 15 contestants, who walked the stage for the top 15 parade, before the groups was cut, once again, to the final five.

Once the MC asked why the Miss DHS pageant was so important for the school, the winners were chosen.

India Nicole Chancelor won the title of Miss Congeniality and Brooke Coley was named fourth alternate in the court. Next, Hunter Logan Lewis and

Dani Dodd were named third and second alternates respectively. Courtney Willingham was named first alternate to Miss DHS, Savanna Joy Dickson.

“We are proud to showcase our students, but I’m glad I wasn’t a judge,” Espy said. “They had so many lovely young ladies to choose from.”

Dickson, a DHS senior, said winning the title was a great way to end her senior year.

“The last time they had the pageant, I was a freshman,” Dickson said, “This is a good memory for seniors to leave a good high school with.”

Dickson, also a DHS cheerleader and member of the school’s drama club, will play one of the lead roles in the school’s production of “Our Town” opening in March.

And even though she is used to being on stage, she said she didn’t go into the competition thinking she would win.

“You can’t go in with cockiness,” Dickson said. “I just went with confidence and I did my best. Apparently it was good enough.”

To celebrate her crowing as Miss DMS, Dickson doesn’t plan to do much out of the ordinary.

“I’m going to eat. Eat. I had to fit into this dress,” she laughed.

Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. the school will host another pageant, but this one will vary greatly from Miss DHS.

The high school’s JROTC will hold its “Womanless Pageant” in the auditorium.

“This will be a bit different,” Espy laughed. “We will definitely see a different kind of beauty.”